Understanding Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s “The Social Contract” and other essays in XXI century

Rousseau’s philosophy is mainly interpreted in two ways: firstly (and most commonly) through the concept of Romanticism, merging his ideas with his extraordinary personality and seeing his philosophy as a common heritage of the European civilisation. Another approach is known as the “Jacobin” or “Bolshevik” approach, which is deeply aggressive and radical. These two movements considered Rousseau’s philosophy as an ideological forerunner.